Elsewhere In The World, The Weather Is Also Going Insane

In California, I am rather ashamed to say, the weather pretty much was what you expect the weather to be at the beginning of January. The Polar Vortex was something that happens some place else because, in California, almost everything happens somewhere else because so much happens here. Nonetheless, the preposterous cold snap that now has extended into the deep South seems to have frozen a lot of stupid in place.

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In case you haven't noticed, the rest of the world is getting the crap knocked out of it. As much of this country froze, Australia was in the process of burning down and/or melting. Ocean storms of Sandy-ish ferocity blew all hell into Galway and Cork in Ireland. Great Britain is next. They're worried about the Olympics in Russia not just because of Chechen terrorists, but because there might not be enough snow. The weather is becoming extreme almost everywhere, and this is neither natural nor unpredictable. We have screwed with the climate and now the climate is screwing us back, in a very big way. We have turned the planet into a freak show, and we're Cleopatra the trapeze lady at the end of the picture.

The key word here is not "weather," or even "climate." The key word here is "extreme." We have rendered the planet unpredictable in ways that endanger millions of people and billions of dollars in property. Which is how that report yesterday in the Washington Post about the great gobs of money that the Kochs are pouring into our elections becomes relevant news on the Weather Channel. The Kochs are using that money, partly, to fund climate change denialism, and the politicians who engage in it. Already, we are hearing that "global warming" is a myth because it's cold in Atlanta, and Fox News made a big deal of finding Al Gore's book on a remainder table. Jim Cantore should do his next live shot from David Koch's front lawn.